Congo’s M23 rebels seize another key eastern town, further encircling North Kivu’s capital

In a further escalation of hostilities, M23 rebels have seized the town of Minova in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a trade hub and key supply route for the provincial capital of Goma.
The Congolese army acknowledged that the rebels had made “breakthroughs” in the towns of Minova and Bweremana, though it did not say if both had been captured. This development has triggered a mass exodus of people in the face of a new offensive by the rebel group, which has also taken strategically important mining towns of Lumbishi, Numbi and Shanje in North Kivu province in recent weeks, authorities said Tuesday (21 January).
M23, or the March 23 Movement, is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in DRC’s mineral-rich eastern region, in a protracted conflict that has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. Since its resurgence in 2022, the M23 armed group, composed of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese army, has continued to gain ground in the country’s volatile east. The DRC, Western powers and the United Nations have repeatedly accused Rwanda of supporting M23 with troops and weapons, a claim that Rwanda denies. More than 237,000 people have been displaced by the fighting in eastern DRC since the beginning of this year, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said in its latest report.